


Light Rises

by loneReyloTrashCan



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: F/M, Post TLJ, Reylo - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-10
Updated: 2018-05-14
Packaged: 2019-05-04 16:14:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,697
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14596815
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/loneReyloTrashCan/pseuds/loneReyloTrashCan
Summary: Ben Solo abandons the First Order and is mortally wounded in the process. He decides he wants to see Rey one last time, so he heads for the new Resistance base.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Mild blood/gore description.

It had been weeks since the force last connected them, and Rey was starting to feel the void his absence was creating. Their last conversation hadn’t been great, it spiraled into another argument about who had abandoned who, about who had made the wrong decision. As tiring as it had become, Rey couldn’t deny that she missed him. Every day she thought about him, about the future she saw when they touched hands, and it filled her with an unconquerable sadness. When she had chosen to leave him in the throne room, it was never because she wanted to leave him forever. She knew it wasn’t the right time for them, that their future would unfold as the force willed it.

            But still, it was on days like this that Rey felt she could barely carry on without him. It was another mundane day at the new resistance base, one that they’d secured shortly after the disaster on Crait. Their numbers were still very thin, and their current goal was to scout for recruits to their cause. They took turns venturing to allied planets, meeting with Leia’s trusted confidants, often returning with a handful of fresh faces. Sometimes, they returned empty handed. It was an arduous process, one that didn’t suit a person like Rey very well. She was about action, about getting things done quickly and effectively, because who knew when the First Order would find them again? It could be a matter of days, maybe even hours. It was a gamble every day.

            These thoughts swirled around her head as she made routine repairs to the Falcon, something that brought her a small amount of peace in these turbulent times.

That’s when the alarm sounded.

            Rey bolted upright and made a B-line for the control room, pushing past other resistance members in her way. She arrived to Connix and Leia hunched over a monitor screen.

            “General, a Tie silencer is approaching our base!” Connix said.

            “Are there any other First Order vessels on approach?” Leia asked, her brow furrowed with concern.

            “Negative, just a lone silencer on our scopes.”

            Leia turned to Rey and their eyes met, a look of understanding flitting between them in an instant. “Let him land.”

            “General?” Connix turned toward them, confusion contorting her face.

            “ _Let him land._ That’s an order.”

            They rushed onto the landing strip just as the Tie Silencer arced overhead, smoke pluming from it’s engines as it screeched toward them. Poe and Finn, along with a throng of resistance fighters raised their blasters and awaited the landing. Rey pushed past them all, including Leia, and watched as the Silencer hit the ground, its metal frame grinding violently and sending sparks in every direction. Poe raised a hand to steady the fighters. “Hold it!”

            The ship finally slid to a stop, creaking as it slowed in front of them. The group approached the vessel, Rey leading the way, followed closely by Leia. As she got closer, a white-hot pain shot through her abdomen, and she doubled over with a cry, clutching her stomach and shaking. Poe ran to her side, ordering the others to stay back.

            “Rey! What’s wrong? What happened? Are you hurt?”

            She realized now that this pain was not her own, she was feeling Ben’s pain through the force. Since it was not her own, she was able to will it away. He was gravely injured, he must be. Rey stood up and shook Poe’s hand off her shoulder, her heart racing as she regained focus. She had no time to explain all this to him, perhaps she would later. For now, she had to make sure Ben was okay.

The ramp to the Silencer descended in front of them, and the soldiers raised their blasters in unison as Kylo Ren stumbled down the ramp. He made it to the bottom before haphazardly falling forward, a fresh pool of blood forming on the ground below him.

“ _Ben!”_ Rey howled, rushing to his side and propping him up in her arms, his back against the ship. His eyes were glazed over and his face was bruised and pale. Blood leaked from the corner of his mouth and he shuddered as he realized Rey was here.

She reached up to touch his face, cradling his head in her arms. Leia rushed to her side and addressed his wounds. Tears welled in Rey’s eyes as she assessed his abdomen, which was badly cut and bleeding profusely. She stroked his hair and his eyes lolled back up to her, his lips parting to speak.

“Rey…” He coughed and spluttered, clutching at her robes as he continued.

“I wanted to be here, with you…at the end…”

Her chest heaved as a fresh sob ripped from her throat.

“It’s not the end! Ben, it’s not over. I’ll help you! You’ll make it!”

She held him closer and Leia leaned down toward Rey.

“Rey, he’ll bleed out if we don’t get him to the med bay, _now.”_

Rey nodded and stood up, slinging Ben’s arm over her shoulder. As she moved with Ben on her arm, she noticed the blasters raised toward her, blocking her path back to the base. Her eyes shot about angrily as she struggled to drag him on her own.

“Well?!” She said indignantly. “Isn’t someone going to help me?!”

Silence followed for a few seconds as the resistance soldiers shifted uncomfortably in front of her. Poe stared down the sights of his blaster, which was aimed straight at Ben. Rey shifted her footing so that she blocked him as best she could, her eyes burning into Poe as she shook under Ben’s massive weight.

“ _Stand aside,_ Poe.” She hissed, her free hand hovering over her lightsaber.

“That’s _Kylo Ren._ He’s a murderer! A _monster!”_ Poe inched closer to them as he said this, and the soldiers slowly fanned out, forming a circle around them. “We can’t let him live.” Poe said simply, his fingers tightening on the trigger.

“ _Poe! Stop!”_ Leia screamed, stepping between him and Rey.

“Leia I know he’s your son-“

Rey drew her saber in an instant and held it toward Poe, whose wide eyes reflected the blue light in front of him. Finn pushed through the group and headed toward Rey, who met him with aggression, turning to point the blade to him next.

“Rey…it’s me. I’m gonna help you bring him to the med bay. I’m gonna help you. Okay?” Finn’s face was pleading and desperate, and Rey knew he was telling the truth. She turned again to face Poe, who had now lowered his blaster. Finn slipped Ben’s other arm over his shoulder and they headed for the base, Rey’s eyes lingering on the soldiers around her as they went. She deactivated her saber and focused on carrying Ben. With Finn’s help, they made it in a matter of minutes.

Leia and Rey followed alongside him as Ben was wheeled down the corridor to the med bay, his gurney guided by a medical droid as it scanned his vital signs and assessed the situation. They burst through the doors and into the well-lit quarters, which was mercifully empty of other patients for the time being. Once they got settled, the droid buzzed and whirred as an arm extended from its metallic body, a laser cutting its way through Ben’s thick cloak to free his wound. Rey gasped as his cloak fell away and she saw the extent of the damage, his flesh cut clean through to his insides. Tears streamed down her face as she regarded Leia. The Princess-turned general’s face was now pale white as Ben’s. The droid worked quickly, suturing the wound closed in a matter of seconds and applying bacta across his lower abdomen. It whirred once more and turned to address the General.

“It seems he is fading.” The droid informed them. “I have closed the wound, but he has lost too much blood. We don’t have the necessary amounts on hand for a transfusion.”

Rey collapsed onto the bedside next to Ben and sobbed freely, her tears adding to the red stains which now blotted her robes. She took his large hand in both of hers and brought it to her lips, pressing a gentle kiss to it before speaking to him.

“Don’t you do this to me Ben. _Please._ Hang on for me.”

Leia looked to Rey and her face was grim, defeated. She was sure she would lose her son.

“Rey…it might be his time. I don’t know what else we can do.”

Rey looked up to the general in disbelief but softened once she saw the tears running down Leia’s cheek.

“No.”

Rey closed her eyes and felt his energy in the force, it was uncharacteristically dim. A pale, flickering light in comparison to his usual bright and vibrant force signature. He was trying so hard to hold on, but his grip was slipping. Yet, as she focused on his essence, the light grew brighter. She fed every ounce of light and strength into him as she could muster, and the light continued to grow. He flickered before her, his signature threatening to fade out.

“ _No.”_

Rey extended her free hand to Leia, and without hesitation, she took it. The women closed their eyes and focused on each other, on him. They communicated silently, words and thought blending together into an endless stream of light, which they fed into him.

_It’s working._

Rey couldn’t tell if she had said it or Leia, but it didn’t matter. The monitors Ben was hooked up to suddenly beeped to life, and his eyes fluttered open lazily. Rey’s breath caught in her chest as she separated from Leia and looked into his eyes again, and this time, they were full of life.

“Rey? You…saved me?” He asked, his voice a weak rasp in his throat.

“No, _we_ did.” Rey smiled and looked over to Leia, whose face mirrored her relief.

Ben looked over them for a moment, his eyes lingering on his mother, as if he couldn’t believe she was there. He lifted his hand and brought it to Rey’s face, cupping it gently in his large palm. He looked between Rey and Leia once more and parted his lips.

“Thank you.”


	2. Light Rises: Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A short update involving some fluff and caring from Rey.

            ------

            Ben awoke to a familiar presence hovering over him, and soft hands tenderly cleaning the wound he sustained on his abdomen. He tensed for a moment, his body growing rigid under their touch. But as his eyes gained focus, he saw that it was indeed Rey, and she had pulled away for a moment so that he could take in his surroundings.

            “It’s just me. It was time to clean your wound. Relax.” She said softly.

            Ben sighed and relaxed under her touch as she resumed her ministrations on his abdomen, occasionally moving to a nearby canister and squeezing out water that was a dull reddish hue.

            “How long has it been?” He said, his voice still hoarse from the hardship of the previous day.

            “One light cycle.” She said. “You were out most of the time.”

            She paused and parted her lips, considering sharing something with him.

            “You know…you talk in your sleep.” She said, her eyes flitting to him. “You told me…” She couldn’t seem to finish what she wanted to say, and Ben raised an eyebrow, waiting for her to get there. She sighed and continued, “You told me you loved me.”

            Ben’s face went pure white as she said this, his entire body seeming to shake at the thought.

            “I…I did?” He asked, unsure how to proceed.

            Rey simply nodded and grabbed a new rag, dunking it in the disinfectant and moving back to his stomach. He wasn’t sure what to say. He wanted to tell her sorry, but that didn’t feel right, because he knew it was true. He did love her, he had ever since he first saw her on Takodana, and felt their strange connection surge between them in the interrogation room on Starkiller base.

            _It’s okay._ She pressed through the bond. _Don’t worry about it, Ben._  

            Ben noticed the lines under Rey’s eyes and looked up to her inquisitively, wondering silently why she was doing this instead of a doctor. She picked up on his thoughts immediately and spoke as she continued to clean him.

            “I don’t trust them around you.” She said, a hint of darkness showing on her face. “Most of these people would kill you in your sleep, given the chance.”

            “Well it wouldn’t be the first time.” Ben said.

            There was a pause and Rey froze, one hand still clutching the reddened cloth. She hadn’t thought of that night with Luke when she said it. Truth be told she was tired, and it just slipped out. Concern crept across her face and she tried to open her mouth to speak, but all that she could find to say was, “I’m sorry…”

            “It’s okay.” Ben shrugged it off and continued looking at her. Redness rose in her cheeks as she felt his gaze lingering, but she made no move to stop him. She dropped the rag into a sanitary bucket and whistled for the medical droid, which beeped to life in the corner and whirred over to them.

            “Yes, lady Rey?” It buzzed.

            “Could you please apply come bacta and rebandage him for me?” She asked’

            “Of course, Rey.”

            The droid rotated and extended an arm with a tube attached, which lathered Ben’s stomach in clear liquid. A bandage unrolled from a compartment in the droid and was quickly applied in a flurry of tiny robotic movements. As the droid did its work, Ben felt Rey’s hand gently grasp his, and his breath hitched in his throat. He closed his enormous hand around hers and their eyes met, her thumb gently rolling over his as they held their gaze.

            “His vitals are normal, but I need to give him an injection, some of his natural levels are low.” The droid released an arm from below it’s body which held a rather intimidating looking needle, and Ben tensed a bit at the sight of it. Rey smiled, squeezing hid hand to get his attention.

            “What? The Supreme Leader isn’t afraid of needles, is he?” She teased.

            “Of course not.” He huffed, trying his hardest not to let the truth slip through his mind. The droid hovered over him and hesitated as it overheard their discussion, causing Ben to tense up even more. “Just get on with it.” He hissed, and the droid complied, pressing the needle into his arm and squeezing the serum into his body. He flinched but allowed the droid to carry on with little issue. It retracted all of it’s arms and hovered back to the corner where it came from, settling its cylindrical body down on a charging station.

            “If that is all, lady Rey, I will return to rest mode.”

            Rey nodded and the lights on it’s chrome head went out, indicating it was no longer monitoring them. Rey removed her hand from his, eliciting a worried sensation from Ben over the bond. Before he could protest, Rey gingerly climbed onto his bed and slipped under his arm, resting her head on his bare chest. He slowly wrapped his arm around her and pulled her in closer, a satisfied sigh escaping her as they got closer.

            He gazed down at her, in awe of how utterly small she was. As his chest rose and fell, her whole body moved with it. He moved his hand to stroke the skin of her cheek, switching to her hair intermittently, savoring how soft and perfect she felt in his arms. Her breathing became so faint that Ben got worried, but as he shifted to look down at her face, gentle snores floated to his ears. He settled back down and continued stroking her, enjoying every second of it. Something about how she sounded, how she felt, and how she was comfortable enough around him to sleep next to him made his heart flutter. He decided he’d let her sleep for a while, she needed it, after all.


End file.
